El Derecho Internacional y la lucha contra la corrupción: los casos contra la multinacional Odebrecht en Brasil, Colombia, Ecuador y Perú

Corruption is one of the greatest debts that modern democracies in developing countries have. Corruption marks the difference between countries with solid and reliable institutions compared to countries where power is above the Law. It is one of the greatest obstacles to the sustained development of countries, and affects the most vulnerable people. This investigative work analyzes corruption and its impact on the lack of balanced growth of Nations, focusing the study on international anti-corruption regulations and its impact in the cases of the multinational company Odebrecht, delimiting what happened in the jurisdiction of four countries of South America: Brazil, as the country of origin of said company, and Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, countries in the Andean area where the company generated billion-dollar contracts. With a research methodology that is both deductive and analytical, as well as exegetical, systematic and comparative, it has been possible to make an account of corruption since the dawn of humanity, highlight various definitions of the term corruption, know certain mechanisms to measure it, and some of the economic, political - administrative, and social and cultural aspects that explain or try to justify the very existence of corruption are mentioned. Subsequently, a study is made of the international, regional and national regulations to combat corruption, with their particularities and shortcomings; and the institutions in the four countries under study created to combat this evil are analyzed. In detail, we proceed to examine various aspects of the corruption investigations in the cases of the Odebrecht company in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, a Brazilian family company that grew so much that it became one of the most important construction companies in the world, corrupting a good part of the countries of the American continent. Consequently, it is analyzed whether the existence of the evil of corruption generates a threat against the rule of law, democracy and human rights, undermining good governance, honesty and social justice; distorting competition, hindering economic development and putting at risk the stability of democratic institutions and the moral foundations of society. Finally, certain proposals are anticipated that could be appropriate for a more efficient fight against transnational corruption, such as certain regulatory reforms, greater institutions and accountability, better regional and international cooperation, more transparency and integrity, more civility and ethics, highlighting a better role that the private sector should play, especially after these scandalous cases of an opulent multinational company that corrupted all those who facilitated its expansion and growth; and the creation of an international - or at least regional - anti-corruption court.